Traction device

ABSTRACT

An overshoe traction device includes a flexible strap for attaching to a shoe, and front and rear cleat members attached to the strap. The rear cleat member includes a metallic rear plate. The front cleat member includes metallic fore and aft plates, and an elastically flexible material molded to, and interconnecting, the fore and aft plates. The fore and aft plates are spaced from one another to form a gap therebetween. Cleats extend downwardly from the rear plate and each of the fore and aft plates. The cleats of the fore and aft plates extend in a pattern around a central region of the front cleat member. The elastically flexible material forms a topside of the front cleat member, and a central region of the underside of the front cleat member and defines a horizontal pivot zone between the fore and aft plates, enabling the fore and aft plates to pivot up and down relative to one another.

BACKGROUND

This disclosure relates to an overshoe traction device, or crampon,which can be attached to walking shoes to aid in walking on slipperysurfaces such as ice and snow.

Overshoe traction devices have been proposed which facilitate walking onice and snow. Such devices may include metal cleats attached to one ormore straps formed of an elastically flexible material, like rubber,that fit over a shoe, such that the cleats are held in a downwardlyfacing state beneath the shoe.

In some cases, the cleats are formed integrally with metal plates, andthe plates may be bonded to an elastically flexible material. Among theissues facing such devices is a tendency for snow or ice to becomepacked along the undersides of the plates, especially near the front ofthe foot, which diminishes the traction provided by the device.

It would be desirable to provide an improved overshoe traction devicewhich provides traction when walking in ice and snow.

It would also be desirable to provide an improved overshoe tractiondevice which resists the packing of snow and ice on the undersidethereof.

SUMMARY

An overshoe traction device comprises an elastically flexible strapconfigured to be attached over a shoe; and a front cleat member and arear cleat member attached to the strap and adapted to be disposedbeneath a shoe when the strap is attached thereto. The front cleatmember is disposed ahead of the rear cleat member and spaced therefrom.The rear cleat member includes at least one rear plate formed of a rigidmaterial, with rear cleat elements extending downwardly from anunderside of the rear plate The front cleat member includes a foreplate, an aft plate, and an elastically flexible material molded to, andinterconnecting, the fore and aft plates. The fore and aft plates areformed of a rigid material. The aft plate includes a front edge spacedrearwardly from a rear edge of the fore plate to form a gap between thefore and aft plates. Fore and aft cleat elements extend downwardly fromthe underside of each of the fore and aft plates. The front edge of theaft plate includes an aft opening extending to the gap, and the rearedge of the fore plate includes a fore opening extending to the gap andfacing the aft opening. The fore and aft cleat elements extend aroundthe fore and aft openings. The elastically flexible material extends:(a) through the gap between the fore and aft plates, (b) acrossrespective upper sides of the fore and aft plates, and (c) through thefore and aft openings. Thus, the elastically flexible material of thefront cleat member forms a topside and a central region of the undersideof the front cleat member and defines a horizontal pivot zone along thegap for enabling the fore and aft plates to pivot up and down relativeto one another.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of an overshoe traction deviceattached to a shoe.

FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of cleat plates which will becomeembedded in elastomeric material to form traction parts of the device.

FIG. 3 is a bottom perspective view of the cleat plates after beingembedded in elastomeric material.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1, showing the device in use.

FIG. 5 is a bottom perspective view of the device removed from a shoe.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the device removed from a shoe.

FIG. 7 is a bottom plan view of the device attached to a shoe.

FIG. 8 is a bottom plan view of an alternate embodiment of the device,attached to a shoe.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Depicted in FIGS. 1-7 is a first embodiment of an overshoe tractiondevice 10 which can be attached to walking shoes to aid in walking onice and snow.

The device 10 includes an elastically flexible strap 12 of a generallyoval shape (see FIG. 6) and adapted to fit around a user's shoe S. Thestrap is formed of an elastically flexible material, such as rubber, inorder to be capable of being stretched over the shoe and held in placeby the elastic restoring force of the material. A plurality of holes 14is formed around the strap which contain metal grommets 16. Attached torespective grommets are elongated flexible connectors, such as metalchains 18 a-j (see FIG. 7). Six of the chains 18 a-f are attached withina front half of the strap, and the remaining four chains 18 g-j areattached within a rear half of the strap.

The front chains 18 a-f are connected to a front cleat member 20, andthe rear chains 18 g-j are connected to a rear cleat member 22 which isspaced rearwardly from the front cleat member. The chains 18 a and 18 bextend from a front side of the strap; the chains 18 i and 18 h extendfrom a rear side of the strap; the remaining chains extend from eitherof two sides of the strap. The front and rear cleat members 20, 22 arenot directly connected to one another, but rather are indirectlyinterconnected through the strap 12. Thus, the front and rear cleatmembers are freely movable relative to the strap and to one another in ahorizontal plane when being worn. When the device is worn, the cleatmembers are arranged to be disposed beneath the user's shoe S.

The rear cleat member 22 includes a rear plate 30 and an elasticallyflexible material 32 attached thereto. The rear plate 30 can be formedof a relatively stiff material, such as aluminum or hardened steel, forexample, and portions of the outer edge of the plate are bent downwardlyand sharpened to form pointed rear cleats 34. The rear plate 30 is shownas being of generally rectangular shape, and the cleats 34 are formed ateach of respective four corners of the plate. The plate could be ofother suitable shapes, and any number of cleats could be provided. Therear plate forms a generally centrally disposed rear opening 36extending therethrough, and the rear cleats 34 extend in a patternaround that rear opening. The cleats need not be disposed at the outeredge of the rear plate, but rather cleats 34′ could be disposed slightlyinwardly therefrom (shown in FIG. 8), as long as they extend around therear opening 36.

The elastically flexible material 32, such as thermoplastic rubber(TPR), for example, is preferably directly molded to the rear plate 30so that a portion 32 a thereof forms a layer overlying extending acrossan upper surface of the rear plate (see FIG. 6). Another portion 32 bcovers a side edge 41 of the plate (see FIG. 3). Still another portion32 c extends through the rear opening 36, and slightly downwardlytherebeyond, to form an underside of the rear cleat member which couldbe smooth or formed with a ridge pattern, as shown. Through-holes 37extend through the rear plate and the elastically flexible material 32for connection with respective chains 18 g-j.

The front cleat member 20 includes a pair of front plates, i.e., a foreplate 40 a and an aft plate 40 b, and an elastically flexible material42 attached to both of the front plates 40 a, 40 b. The plates 40 a, 40b can be formed of any suitable rigid material, such as aluminum forexample, and portions of the outer edge of the fore plate are bentdownwardly and sharpened to form pointed front cleats 44 a. Each of thefore and aft plates 40 a, 40 b is shown as being of generally U-shapedshape (see FIG. 7).

Portions of the outer edge of the aft plate are bent downwardly andsharpened to form pointed rear cleats 44 b.

The cleats 44 a are formed at each of respective four corners of thefore plate 40 a, and the cleats 44 b are formed at each of two rearcorners of the aft plate 40 b. The fore and aft front plates 40 a, 40 bcould be of other suitable shapes, and any number of cleats could beprovided. The cleats need not be at the outer edges of the fore and aftplates; instead, cleats 44 a′ and 44 b′ could be located slightlyinwardly of those edges, as shown in FIG. 8. It will be appreciated,however, that in either embodiment, the cleats extend in a patternaround central areas of the fore and aft plates.

The aft plate 40 b includes a U-shaped front edge 50 spaced rearwardlyfrom a U-shaped rear edge 52 of the fore plate to form a gap 54 betweenthe fore and aft plates (FIG. 2). The front edge 50 of the aft plateincludes an aft opening or recess 56 extending therethrough which opensat the gap 54. The rear edge 52 of the fore plate includes a foreopening or recess 58 extending therethrough which opens at the gap andfaces the aft opening 56.

The elastically flexible material 42, such as thermoplastic rubber(TPR), is molded to , and interconnects, the fore and aft plates. Thatmaterial 42 includes a portion 60 which extends through the gap 54 (seeFIG. 7), a portion 62 which overlies the upper sides of both of the foreand aft plates (FIG. 6), another portion 63 which covers outer edges ofthe fore and aft plates (see FIG. 3), and still another portion 64 whichextends through, and slightly downwardly beyond, the fore and aftopenings 56, 58 (see FIG. 3). Thus, the portion 62 of the material 42forms a topside of each of the fore and aft cleat members; the portion64 forms a generally central region of the underside of the front cleatmember; and the portion 60 defines a horizontal pivot zone along the gap54, enabling the foe and aft plates to pivot up and down relative to oneanother (see FIG. 4). The underside portion 64 could be smooth as shownin FIG. 5, or formed with a ridge pattern P as shown in FIG. 8.

Through-holes 70, 72 extend through respective plates 40 a, 40 b, andthrough the portions 60, 62 and 64 of the material 42, for connectionwith respective chains 18 a-f. Those through-holes extend in a patternaround the central region of the fore and aft plates.

As a user wearing the devices walks on ice or snow, the accumulation ofice or snow in the central region of the undersides of the front andrear cleat members 20, 22 (i.e., the region around which the cleats andthe holes extend), will be resisted by the presence of the portions 32 cand 64 of the materials 32 and 42, respectively, to which ice/snow doesnot readily adhere. Furthermore, any ice/snow which manages toaccumulate in the central region of the underside of the front cleatmember 20 will tend to be expelled therefrom as the fore and aft platemembers 40 a, 40 b pivot relative to one another about the pivot axisdefined by the portion 60 of the material 42 (see FIG. 4), whichmaterial will protrude even farther downwardly beyond the openings 56,58 as the fore and aft plate members pivot relative to one another, tophysically push away any adhered snow off the underside of the frontcleat member 20.

The portions 62 and 32 a of the elastically flexible material 42 whichform the topsides of the fore and aft cleat members, respectively,frictionally engage the bottom of the wearer's shoe to resist relativesliding movement therebetween as the user walks.

Although the present invention has been described in connection withpreferred embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated by those skilledin the art that additions, deletions, modifications, and substitutionsnot specifically described may be made without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

1. An overshoe traction device comprising: an elastically flexible strapconfigured to be attached over a shoe; and a front cleat member and arear cleat member attached to the strap and adapted to be disposedbeneath a shoe when the strap is attached thereto, the front cleatmember disposed ahead of the rear cleat member and spaced therefrom;wherein the rear cleat member includes at least one stiff rear plate,with rear cleat elements extending downwardly from the rear plate;wherein the front cleat member includes: a stiff fore plate and a stiffaft plate, the aft plate including a front edge spaced rearwardly from arear edge of the fore plate to form a gap between the fore and aftplates, fore and aft cleat elements extending downwardly from the foreand aft plates, respectively, the fore and aft cleat elements extendingin a pattern around a central region of the front cleat member, and anelastically flexible material molded to, and interconnecting, the foreand aft plates, which elastically flexible material extends: acrossrespective upper sides of the fore and aft plates to form a topside ofthe front cleat member, and through the gap between the fore and aftplates to define a horizontal pivot zone along the gap for enabling thefore and aft plates to pivot up and down relative to one another as theuser walks.
 2. The overshoe traction device according to claim 1,wherein at least one of the fore and aft plates includes an openingdisposed in said central region and extending to said gap, saidelastically flexible material extending through said opening.
 3. Theovershoe traction device according to claim 1, wherein the front edge ofthe aft plate includes an aft opening disposed in said central regionand extending to the gap, the rear edge of the fore plate including afore opening disposed in said central region and extending to said gapand facing the aft opening, said elastically flexible material extendingthrough the fore and aft openings.
 4. The overshoe traction deviceaccording to claim 3, wherein the elastically flexible material extendsdownwardly beyond the fore and aft openings.
 5. The overshoe tractiondevice according to claim 1, wherein the rear plate includes a rearopening extending through a central region of the rear plate, and anelastically flexible material molded to the rear plate and extendingacross an upper surface thereof and through the rear opening, whereinsuch elastically flexible material forms a topside of the rear cleatmember and a central region of an underside of the rear cleat member,the cleats of the rear cleat member extending around in a pattern aroundthe rear opening.
 6. The overshoe traction device according to claim 5,including elongated flexible elements attaching the front and rear cleatmembers to the strap, some of the flexible elements attached tothrough-holes formed in the rear plate which extend around the rearopening, others of the flexible elements attached to through-holesformed in the fore and aft plates and extending around the centralregion of the front cleat member.
 7. The overshoe traction deviceaccording to claim 6, wherein the elongated flexible elements comprisemetal chains.
 8. The overshoe traction device according to claim 6,wherein the front and rear cleat members are attached to one anotheronly indirectly through the strap, wherein the front and rear cleatmembers are relatively movable relative to the strap and to each otherin a horizontal plane.
 9. The overshoe traction device according toclaim 1, wherein the rear cleats are formed at an outer edge of the rearplate, the fore cleats are formed at an outer edge of the fore plate,and the aft cleats are formed at an outer edge of the aft plate.
 10. Theovershoe traction device according to claim 1, wherein the cleats of thefore plate, the aft plate, and the rear plate are spaced inwardly fromrespective outer edges thereof.
 11. The overshoe traction deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the elastically flexible materialcomprises thermoplastic rubber.
 12. The overshoe traction deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the rear plate, the aft plate and the foreplate comprise metal.
 13. The overshoe traction device according toclaim 1, wherein the rear cleats comprise downwardly bent and sharpenedportions of the rear plate; the fore cleats comprise downwardly bent andsharpened portions of the fore plate, and the aft cleats comprisedownwardly bent and sharpened portions of the aft plate.
 14. An overshoetraction device comprising: an elastically flexible strap configured tobe attached over a shoe; and a front cleat member and a rear cleatmember attached to the strap by elongated flexible elements and adaptedto be disposed beneath a shoe when the strap is attached thereto, thefront cleat member disposed ahead of the rear cleat member and spacedtherefrom; wherein the rear cleat member includes at least one metallicrear plate, with portions thereof being bent and sharpened to formpointed rear cleat elements extending downwardly from the rear plate,wherein the rear plate includes a rear opening extending through acentral region of the rear plate, and an elastically flexible materialmolded to the rear plate and extending across an upper surface thereofand through the rear opening, wherein such elastically flexible materialforms a topside of the rear cleat member and a central region of anunderside of the rear cleat member, the cleats of the rear cleat memberextending around the rear opening. wherein the front cleat memberincludes: a metallic fore plate and a metallic aft plate, the aft plateincluding a front edge spaced rearwardly from a rear edge of the foreplate to form a gap between the fore and aft plates, portions of thefore and aft plates being bent and sharpened to form fore and aftpointed cleat elements extending downwardly from the fore and aftplates, the front edge of the aft plate including an aft openingextending to the gap, and the rear edge of the fore plate including afore opening extending to the gap and facing the aft opening, the foreand aft cleat elements extending around the fore and aft openings, andan elastically flexible material molded to, and interconnecting, thefore and aft plates, which elastically flexible material extends: acrossrespective upper sides of the fore and aft plates to form a topside ofthe front cleat member, through the fore and aft openings to form acentral region of the underside of the front cleat member, and throughthe gap between the fore and aft plates to define a horizontal pivotzone along the gap for enabling the fore and aft plates to pivot up anddown relative to one another as the user walks.